‘We should concentrate on making sure existing aid
money is better spent and we need to be careful that we do not have poor
people at home funding rich people abroad.

International aid: Trucks carry 100 tons of flour into North Korea to help flood victims

‘The Government would be better off cutting aid budgets abroad to ensure people can stand on their own two feet, while arguing for America and the European Union to cut subsidies to their own farmers and industries which hurt the developing world.’

Sam Bowman, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, said the increase in aid spending beggared belief at a time when police, universities and the armed forces were being cut back.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

He said: ‘Overseas aid is a waste of taxpayers’ money that props up dictatorships in sub-Saharan Africa and funds fast-growing countries like India, whose economy has grown by nearly 8.8 per cent in 2010 and which has its own space and nuclear weapons programmes.

‘Why the Chancellor thinks that the taxpayer should fund the Indian
space programme is unclear. At a time when the British Government is
cutting spending domestically it makes no sense to increase overseas aid
spending.’

Hurt at home but help abroad: Chancellor George Osborne delivers the Comprehensive Spending Review

But charities backed the move. Phil Bloomer of Oxfam said Mr Osborne and David Cameron deserved real credit for sticking to their aid promises.

He said: ‘The coalition has taken the tough choice to prioritise the poorest people on the planet during the bad times as well as good.’

Paul Cook, advocacy director at aid charity Tearfund, said: ‘This is clearly a moral obligation, especially at this time of global economic hardship, and we hope that the rest of the world will follow the UK’s lead.’

Patrick Watt, Save the Children’s director of development, said: ‘What is the real driver of aid allocation? Is it poverty, is it need and the ability to use money effectively or is it the agenda of the National Security Council?

‘We do need to have a balanced approach to aid allocation that reflects the principles of the 2002 International Development Act which stipulates that all aid should be for poverty reduction

‘One of the concerns is that the countries that will lose out will be poor but stable countries like Ghana or Tanzania that will potentially see a slight reduction in aid but almost certainly won’t see any increase.

‘You will end up in a slightly perverse situation, if we’re not careful, where countries with a lot of poor people that happen not to be on the geopolitical radar are losing out.’